Apr 13, 2015by Basharat Hussain

I did some steps in order to reset sa password of SQL server ; HERE is detail for future reference.

RDC Login to machine IP = xx.xx.xx.xx with ‘Domain Admin’ account.
UPDATE: If all else fails, you can run SQL Server in Single User Mode, which allows a single connection to the server, and enable/change the sa password. To do this you can:

Open the command prompt (Right-Click on and select "Run As Administrator")

From the command prompt type net stop mssql$SQL2008R2

Next type net start mssql$SQL2008R2 /m

Open SQL Server Management Studio. Do not login, cancel the login dialog.

From the file Menu select New->Database engine query, and login (Make sure you use the host name and not localhost).

Execute the query ALTER LOGIN sa WITH PASSWORD = ''; to reset the password (if the sa is not enabled then type ALTER LOGIN sa ENABLE to do so)
OR -- As indicated by @jimasp in the comments, for step 6 you may have to do ALTER LOGIN sa WITH PASSWORD = '' UNLOCK;, because the sa account may be locked from too many login attempts.

From the command prompt type net stop mssql$SQL2008R2

Next type net start mssql$SQL2008R2

Login with the sa user and add the Administrator user or do what ever.

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